If Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow is unable to go next Saturday against the LSU Tigers due to his concussion, John Brantley will start.

But who would back him up?

According to wide receiver David Nelson, the team has been working with punter Chas Henry at quarterback. That should come as no surprise to those who follow recruiting, considering Henry was the starting (and quite successful) quarterback for East Paulding High School in Dallas, GA, during his sophomore season.

Throughout his recruitment, Henry was listed as both a punter and quarterback, something heavily coveted by teams who may wish to only carry two quarterbacks while redshirting freshman or injured players. A punter who can throw also lends well to potential punt fakes, something head coach Urban Meyer has made his signature over the years.

The only other quarterback on the roster for the Gators is four-star freshman Jordan Reed, who Meyer planned to redshirt this season. If Reed was forced to play for any reason, he would lose his redshirt and a year of eligibility along with it. Henry’s existence alone should make that problem moot.

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Great post. Depending on the score, if Brantley goes down (and presuming Tebow is unavailable), I would love to see Haden — even if it means he’s unavailable to play a complete set of snaps on D (and special teams…whew!)

If Henry is in there, it’s not like Florida won’t be running every. single. play. anyway. So why not go with Haden, the designated “Wildcat” — or even direct snaps to a rotation of Haden, James, Demps, Rainey and Moody?

This is all, of course, at the “at-this-point-fans-would-be-setting-themselves-on-fire” moment, so it’s not quite critical WHO plays.

I have an issue with Haden being put in at quarterback. I was vocal about it on twitter at the time all of those stories came out about him being in the Wildcat/single wing. The guy already plays 2/3 sides of the ball. He is in on every defensive and special teams play (unless winded). While our secondary is deep enough where someone could fill in for him adequately, I would rather not see him play out of position like that (even if he is the most athletic player on the team according to Meyer). To me it is like Wang running the bases for the Yankees – something bad is bound to happen.

Putting Henry in at QB may not be a mistake… while I don’t agree with the decision at a 100% level, he WOULD be the next best thing. Especially thinking about the future, the only way to truly see how he does is to put him in a game. Who knows what could happen – but with the offense behind him, we can only have faith.

To be honest Kelly, I don’t think there is any future for Henry on this team as a quarterback. It would strictly be as an emergency move in an absolute worst case scenario. The major debate would be whether or not to play him, only use a Wildcat/single wing-type offense with Haden/James/Demps/Thompson in the shotgun or to activate Jordan Reed and lose his redshirt. Hopefully this NEVER becomes an issue!

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